Spine and traumatic brain injuries cause significant morbidity and mortality due to events both in the civilian and military field. From a civilian perspective, extreme sporting enthusiasts are at risk for head and spinal injuries due to direct impacting or to non-physiologic, harmful extremes of motion. From a military perspective, spine injuries and traumatic brain injuries can occur as a result of explosions. Such blast injuries can be divided into four main categories:                Primary: Caused by the direct effect of blast overpressure on tissue of a victim. In some situations the blast will cause a differential acceleration of the head in relation to the body, because the body might be heavier (e.g. due to equipment carried) or because it might be protected (e.g. in armored vehicles' hatches or in trenches).        Secondary: Caused by fragments or flying objects (e.g. rubble, building fragments, and shrapnel) that strike people.        Tertiary: Occurs when blast victims fly through the air and strike other objects or the ground.        Quaternary: Includes smoke and debris inhalation, burns and any injury not previously described.        
Currently, there is no head and spine protection device with widespread acceptance for protecting from spine and traumatic brain injuries when a user is subject to sudden accelerations or decelerations in the military or civilian arena. Some protective devices have increased the survivability from traumatic events due to spine and traumatic brain injuries in accidents that would have been fatal otherwise. Some protective devices protect the spine but these devices are bulky, heavy and significantly reduce the range of motion of the cervical spine (e.g. systems based on rods). Other protective devices provide limited stabilization (e.g. air bags—also prone to puncture or might cause injury from sudden inflation) or significantly reduce the range of motion (e.g. collars worn by race car drivers that only allow limited head turning). Accordingly, there remains a need for a lightweight, mobile, and effective device that protects a user from spine and traumatic brain injuries in accidents without significantly restricting the motion of the user while in everyday use.